Machine for preparing beverages

ABSTRACT

A machine for preparing beverages is disclosed, of the type provided with a hollow frame ( 1 ) comprising a water feed unit and an assembly for preparing beverages formed of a plurality of components. The components of the assembly are disposed in a compartment closed at the front by a supporting element ( 5 ) for at least one mixing chamber ( 6 ) and at least one dispensing nozzle ( 7 ) and are supported entirely or in part by the supporting element ( 5 ). The supporting element is removably mounted with respect to the compartment.

This application is the U.S. National Phase of International ApplicationPCT/IB03/01773, filed on May 7, 2003, which designated the U.S. andclaims priority to Italian Application No. IT MI2002A000973, filed May9, 2002. The entire contents of these applications are incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the preparation of beverages such ascoffee, tea, cappuccino and hot chocolate and in particular to a machinefor preparing these beverages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior art machines connected to the water mains generally comprise tankscontaining soluble products, mixing chambers to mix water with a solubleproduct or with a mixture of soluble products, dispensing ducts thatconnect the tanks to the mixing chambers and the latter to thedispensing nozzle, a special unit for espresso coffee, at least onesolenoid valve to control delivery of water to the mixing chamber,metering means to meter the exact quantity of soluble product requiredto obtain a specific beverage and a suction cleaner to clean, after eachbeverage is dispensed, the dispensing ducts and the mixing chambers fromany residue that may deposit.

In prior art machines, the components or parts listed above and othersnot mentioned, are mounted with the exception of the tanks for solubleproducts in a specific compartment and, in order to restrict the overalldimensions of the machine, they are placed in close contact with oneanother or superimposed, making it practically impossible to gain accessto a part from the front to perform regular or special maintenanceoperations without having to remove the superimposed parts and/or someadjacent parts.

Although making it possible to produce a compact dispensing machine, theparticular arrangement of the parts inside the machine makes itdifficult to access the various parts to perform maintenance operationsor to inspect them. In fact, when the dispensing machine is installed ina public place even the smallest adjustment requires disassembly andsubsequent reassembly of one or more components or parts, resulting inan increase in working times and hence in directly related costs orrequires access from the rear of the machine, which is somewhatimpractical.

To solve this problem machines have been supplied equipped with thecoffee unit, that is the unit that by grinding the coffee beans andsubsequent known operations makes it possible to dispense espressocoffee, provided with runners sliding in specific guides produced on theframe of the machine to allow extraction, as if it were a drawer, of theentire unit with respect to the machine.

However, a machine of this type only allows simple extraction of thecoffee unit, without however providing easy access to the remainingparts constituting the machine.

The object of the present invention is to solve the drawbacks of priorart, by providing a machine for distributing beverages obtained fromsoluble products the structure of which allows, internally, ergonomicdistribution of the component parts so that the different parts may beaccessed without necessarily having to disassemble the entire machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These objects are attained by the present invention, which relates to amachine for preparing beverages of the type provided with a hollow framecomprising a water feed unit and an assembly for preparing beveragesformed of a plurality of components, said components being disposed in acompartment closed at the front by a supporting element for at least onemixing chamber and at least one dispensing nozzle, characterized in thatthe components of said assembly for preparing beverages are supportedentirely or in part by said supporting element and in that saidsupporting element is removably mounted with respect to saidcompartment.

An arrangement of this kind allows some components of the assembly forpreparing beverages to be supported on the supporting element increasingthe free space on the internal walls of the frame. This increasesaccessibility to those components of the machine directly attached tothe fixed walls of the frame.

Moreover, the fact that the supporting element can be removed furtherfacilitates access to those components directly attached to it.

According to an advantageous aspect of the present invention, thesupporting element comprises a supporting plate hinged on one of itssides to the hollow frame and designed to rotate between a position inwhich, together with the fixed elements of the frame, it defines aclosed compartment and an overturned position in which it defines anopen compartment. The supporting plate mounted to overturn considerablyincreases the constructional simplicity of the machine and significantlydecreases the adjustment times, during inspection, of the machine. Infact, instead of partial disassembly of the machine, a simple manualoperation by the operator is all that is required to gain access to anyof its components.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the assemblyfor preparing beverages comprises at least one pump, at least one watervolume measuring device, at least one boiler and at least one solenoidvalve to control delivery of water to said at least one mixing chamber.

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention, theassembly for preparing beverages also comprises a unit for preparingespresso coffee supported on the supporting plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention shallbecome more apparent from the description hereunder, provided purely asa non-limiting example with reference to the schematic accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an internal perspective view of an embodiment of the beveragedispensing machine according to the present invention with thesupporting element in the closed position;

FIG. 2 is an internal perspective view of an embodiment of the beveragedispensing machine according to the present invention with thesupporting element in the open or overturned position;

FIG. 3 is an internal perspective view of an alternative embodiment ofthe beverage dispensing machine according to the present invention withthe supporting element in the closed position; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the embodiment in FIG. 2 with thesupporting element in the open position.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 represents a possible embodiment of a machine for preparingbeverages according to the present invention.

In particular, FIG. 1 shows the hollow frame 1 open, that is without thefront covering element, of a machine for preparing beverages accordingto the present invention.

The hollow frame 1 comprises, in a known way, a water feed unit 8 and anassembly for preparing beverages formed of a plurality of componentscontained in a specific compartment 4, closed at the front, as shown inFIG. 1, by a supporting element 5 for the mixing chambers 6 and thedispensing nozzle 7.

The water feed unit 8 connected to the water mains is constituted by asolenoid valve to control the delivery of water to the system and by awater level control unit 38 that guarantees a minimum level of water inthe system. While the elements constituting the water feed unit 8 areattached to the internal walls of the hollow frame 1, the elementsconstituting the assembly for preparing beverages are fixed to thesupporting element 5. The supporting element 5 is constituted by asupporting plate removably mounted with respect to the compartment 4 ofthe frame.

In other words, the supporting plate 5 may be detached from thecompartment 4 of the frame to be removed.

The supporting plate 5 is connected to the frame 1 by means constitutinga hinge to allow it to rotate with respect to one side of the same as ifit were a flap. The means constituting the hinges 35 around which theplate 5 rotates may be represented, for example, by pins disposed on oneside of the plate 5 and engaged, in a removable way, in specificcircular seats (not shown) made on the frame 1 or by other known means.In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the supporting plate 5 hinged on thebottom side rotates downward with respect to it, although, withoutdeparting from the scope of protection of the present invention, it isalso possible to provide hinging means that allow upward rotation, thatis hinging means that allow the supporting plate to rotate with respectto its top side.

In detail, the supporting plate 5 can rotate between a position in whichin combination with other fixed elements of the frame 1 it constitutes aclosed compartment 4, as shown in FIG. 1, to contain components of theassembly for preparing beverages and a position in which it defines anopen compartment 4 as shown in FIG. 2.

The fixed elements of the frame designed to define the containingcompartment 4 are represented by two fixed plates 10, 11 disposedcrosswise with respect to the frame 1, one top and one bottom, and bythe rear 12 and side 13 walls of the same frame.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the assembly for preparingbeverages is constituted by a pump 31 controlled by a water volumemeasuring device 32 designed to meter the quantity of water required toprepare a particular beverage, from a boiler 33 responsible for heatingthe water and by a solenoid valve 14 for each mixing chamber 6. All thecomponents of the assembly, that is the boiler, the solenoid valves 14and the pump, are supported on the supporting plate 5 and thereforesimply by rotating this plate they become accessible to an operatorentrusted with their maintenance or adjustment. Alternatively, withoutdeparting from the scope of protection of the present invention, it ispossible to only partly fix the components of the assembly for preparingbeverages to the supporting plate 5. In other words, it is possible tofix only some of the components of the assembly, such as the solenoidvalves and the boiler, to the plate 5 and the remaining components to aside wall of the frame 1.

The assembly for preparing beverages is connected in a known way, viaducts not shown, to the storage tanks 17 of the soluble products which,as shown in FIG. 2, are disposed at the top end of the frame 1 and arefastened to it.

The mixing chambers 6 may also be equipped with one or more specificblenders 36 to facilitate mixing the soluble product with the water.

As mentioned previously, the supporting plate 5 may be detached from thecompartment 4 of the frame. For this purpose, for example according toan alternative embodiment, the supporting plate 5 may be provided withtwo side guides designed to slide in specific tracks disposed on theinternal frame 1 of the machine to make its extraction possible, as ifit were a drawer, with respect to the compartment 4.

FIGS. 3 and 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the machine accordingto the present invention and in particular a machine in which theassembly for preparing beverages, in addition to the components listedabove, also comprises another unit 18 for preparing espresso coffee. Aswell as preparing beverages from soluble products, an embodiment of thiskind also allows espresso coffee to be made. The unit 18 for preparingespresso coffee, as shown in FIG. 4, is equipped with a grinder 19operated by an electric motor 20 to grind the coffee beans and issupported, as shown in FIG. 4, on the supporting plate 5.

Therefore, also in this embodiment all the components for preparingbeverages are supported on the supporting plate 5 designed to rotatearound one of its sides. As previously illustrated, rotation of thesupporting plate, indicated in FIG. 4 by the arrow F, allows an operatorentrusted with their maintenance to access all the components. It isalso possible to detach the plate 5 from the hollow frame 1, afterdisconnecting some ducts, not shown, to gain access to the components ofthe assembly for preparing beverages or to the components of the waterfeed unit mounted fixed on the walls of the hollow frame 1.

The machines for preparing beverages illustrated above also have all theparts, such as connection pipes and safety valves, not specificallymentioned in this description, that are normally found in similarmachines.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope ofthe present invention. For example, the supporting element or plate 5may be made of two adjacent plates hinged separately to the hollow frame5. In this case, one plate will support, for example, the coffee unit 18and one plate will support all or part of the remaining components ofthe assembly for preparing beverages.

1. A machine for preparing beverages, provided with a hollow framecomprising a water feed unit and an assembly for preparing beveragesformed of a plurality of components, said components being disposed in acompartment closed at the front by a supporting element for at least onemixing chamber, wherein the components of said assembly for preparingbeverages are supported entirely or in part by said supporting elementand said supporting element is removably mounted with respect to saidcompartment, and wherein said supporting element is positioned withinthe confines of the hollow frame as an internal component of themachine, said supporting element comprising a supporting plate hinged atone of its sides to the hollow frame and designed to rotate between aposition in which, in combination with fixed elements of said frame, itdefines a closed compartment and an overturned position in which itdefines an open compartment.
 2. A dispensing machine as claimed in claim1, wherein said assembly for preparing beverages comprises at least onepump, at least one water volume measuring device, at least one boilerand at least one solenoid valve to control delivery of water to said atleast one mixing chamber.
 3. A dispensing machine as claimed in claim 2,wherein said assembly for preparing beverages also comprises a unit forpreparing espresso coffee supported on the supporting plate.
 4. Adispensing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said water feed unitcomprises at least a grinder to prepare espresso coffee.
 5. A dispensingmachine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mixing chamber comprises ablender.
 6. A dispensing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidwater feed unit is connectable to a water supply and comprises asolenoid valve to control the delivery of water to the system and awater level control unit.
 7. A dispensing machine as claimed in claim 1,wherein said water feed unit is mounted fixed on the side walls of saidhollow frame.
 8. A dispensing machine as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid unit for preparing beverages is connected to at least one tank forthe soluble product.
 9. A dispensing machine as claimed in claim 1,further comprising a front covering element provided to the frame, thesupporting element being positioned inside the front covering element.10. A machine for preparing beverages, provided with a hollow framecomprising a water feed unit and an assembly for preparing beveragesformed of a plurality of components, said components being disposed in acompartment closed at the front by a supporting element for at least onemixing chamber, wherein the components of said assembly for preparingbeverages are supported entirely or in part by said supporting element,and wherein said supporting element comprises a supporting plate movablebetween a closed position in which, in combination with fixed elementsof said frame, the compartment is closed, and an open position in whichthe compartment is open, said supporting element defining an innersurface oriented towards the compartment and an outer surface oppositethe inner surface, each of inner and outer surfaces supporting one ormore of said components.
 11. A machine as claimed in claim 10, furthercomprising at least one pump, at least one water volume measuringdevice, at least one boiler and at least one solenoid valve to controldelivery of water to said at least one mixing chamber.
 12. A machine asclaimed in claim 10, further comprising a unit for preparing espressocoffee supported on the supporting plate.
 13. A machine as claimed inclaim 10, wherein said water feed unit comprises at least a grinder toprepare espresso coffee.
 14. A machine as claimed in claim 10, whereinsaid mixing chamber comprises a blender.
 15. A machine as claimed inclaim 10, wherein said water feed unit is connectable to a water supplyand comprises a solenoid valve to control the delivery of water to thesystem and a water level control unit.
 16. A machine as claimed in claim10, wherein said water feed unit is mounted on a side wall of saidhollow frame.
 17. A machine as claimed in claim 10, wherein said unit isconnected to at least one tank to contain a soluble product.
 18. Amachine as claimed in claim 10, wherein the supporting plate is hingedlyattached to a side of the hollow frame.